VMware
 

Knowledge Base

Search the Knowledge Base:
Products:
Search In:
 

Using Storage VMotion to migrate a virtual machine with many disks may timeout

Symptoms

You may experience these symptoms:
  • Storage VMotion fails.

    A virtual machine with many virtual disks might be unable to compete a migration with Storage VMotion. The Storage VMotion process requires time to open, close, and process disks during the final copy phase. Storage VMotion migration of virtual machines with many disks might timeout because of this per-disk overhead.

  • There are multiple points in the Storage VMotion process that this timeout may trigger. For example 5 to 10% or 90 to 95% complete.

  • On the vCenter Server, from the VPXD logs, you see the error:

    [2008-07-17 12:29:57.283 02828 error 'App'] [MIGRATE] (1216409209437375) VMotion failed: vmodl.fault.SystemError
    [2008-07-17 12:29:57.454 02828 verbose 'App'] [VpxVmomi] Throw vmodl.fault.SystemError with:
    (vmodl.fault.SystemError) {
       dynamicType = <unset>,
       reason = "Source detected that destination failed to resume.",
       msg = "A general system error occurred: Source detected that destination failed to resume." 

Resolution

Increase the Storage VMotion fsr.maxSwitchoverSeconds setting in the virtual machine configuration file to a larger value.
 
The default is 100 seconds.
 
To modify fsr.maxSwitchoverSeconds:
  1. Right-click the virtual machine and click Edit Settings.
  2. Click the Options > Advanced > General.
  3. Click Configuration Parameters.
  4. From the Configuration Parameters window, click Add Row.
  5. For the Name field,  fsr.maxSwitchoverSeconds and for the Value field enter the new timeout value.
  6. Click OK twice to save.
  7. Restart the virtual machine for the changes to take effect.
You can also modify the .vmx file manually and add the following line to the file:
 
fsr.maxSwitchoverSeconds = "<value>"
 
Where <value> is the timeout in seconds

Alternatively, at the time of Storage VMotion Migration, avoid running a large number of provisioning operations, migrations, or power on/off operations on the same datastores the Storage VMotion migration is using.

Feedback

Rate this article:
(9 Ratings)

Did this article help you?
This article resolved my issue.
This article did not resolve my issue.
This article helped but additional information was required to resolve my issue.
What can we do to improve this information? (4000 or fewer characters)
Email address (optional)
Submit
Rate this article:
(9 Ratings)
Actions
  • KB Article: 1010045
  • Updated: Aug 14, 2009
  • Products:
    VMware ESX
    VMware ESXi
  • Product Versions:
    VMware ESX 4.0.x
    VMware ESXi 4.0.x Embedded
    VMware ESXi 4.0.x Installable